I'd like to make Zen open source to allow free modifications from the users that could be hosted and distributed on the hub.

To cut to the chase:

(some) PROS:
-Availability of mods
-Better chance that this game will last longer
-Mods can be hosted on the central hub no different than vanilla versions
-Mods can be flexible
-Mods can easily be shared and distributed on the forum

(and some) CONS:
-Poorly programmed source already(I took a lot of shortcuts here and there are some ridiculous things that should be modular which aren't)
-Updates will bug up existing mods
-Low quality mods, which could degrade game-play and possibly increase lag
-Inconsistent art styles
-Less careful design, sloppy design, etc(Design that is unlike the design which I have implemented before open sourcing)

"Ripping" is out of the question here because users will not be permitted to create their own hubs for their mods and therefore a mod that isn't hosted on the main hub is still just a mod.

Your con seems stronger than your pros and guess work on what each thing do from the many shortcuts you take sounds to be more troublesome than it is. But I put yes because I would LOVE to see a variety of what people could do with what you have. =D Maybe a mix with icon builder mechanics, or something with a bit of rogue-like, like a cave you could dig and raid then surface to build before a counter siege commence.

You've basically answered your own question here. You said "there will be mods" then right below it mentioned that all of them will be buggy, low quality, inconsistent mods with sloppy design. If I thought people would do that with one of my games, I simply wouldn't open source it and don't know why anyone else would either.

Although that could be avoided by just giving the source to certain people you know have a brain as opposed to making it accessible to everyone.

Unless I'm mistaken, a hub password only allows those servers to be visible on the hub. You could hand out hub password to mods that are acceptable, while keeping the others hidden. You could also have a forum for people to host their servers hidden, but still share it so players can try it out, view it's progression, etc, etc. Then again, it has to actually have a certain level of success to bother with any of that.

Considering you love text-parsing so much, why don't you add some kind of scripting (and a tutorial) to let people include their own buildings and items? It'd be interesting to see how you do it, and you don't have to show off your horribly ugly code.

Oh. Well it's accumulating a decent amount of fans and has been on the front page for a week or two now so I'm sure there are enough players to contribute to this. I'm also hoping that this would potentially increase the existing player base

Then again, it has to actually have a certain level of success to bother with any of that.

In which area?

Number of players and how long they actually spend playing the game.

They would have to dabble through them until they find the theme and mechanic they like best. With diversity, they'll bound to find a server to make their home and it's better than a fixed setting and gameplay.

My word on this: If your done developing this (T_T) fine.
If your not, then also fine.

If you think minecraft, mods are still out on its full release and before its release they were theres.
Just change it to make it easier to mod on. I mean, just DONT give out the hub password to anyone or anything. Just make it moddable.

My word on this: If your done developing this (T_T) fine.
If your not, then also fine.

If you think minecraft, mods are still out on its full release and before its release they were theres.
Just change it to make it easier to mod on. I mean, just DONT give out the hub password to anyone or anything. Just make it moddable.

If the source is released , the Hub password should be included. There isn't a reason the "modded/edited" games need a separate Hub. And the easier "modding" part can be done by the "editor" :P